Doctorate in Jazz in 15 Minutes 

Disclaimer: This is not a 1:1 replacement for the EXPERIENCE of studying music for 9 years. But I truly believe it is a distillation of about 95% of the relevant theory that I learned. There's also an emphasis on harmony over rhythm because it requires more explanation. That doesn't mean it's more important. Jazz is a language of rhythms, harmonies, and melodies that has to be spoken over and over again to become fluent. It's an aural tradition and there's no substitute for learning from the performances of jazz masters like Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Charlie Parker, Thelonious Monk, Miles Davis, Chick Corea, and more. There is no substitution for years of practice, transcribing solos, developing rhythmic independence, learning tunes, and most importantly, playing with other musicians. All the jazz greats learned on the bandstand, not a classroom. Some resources for topics I didn't cover: Coltrane changes/substitutions: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-LRSDgID_c7s.htmlsi=cHsr_RjKYWiG1A9i Upper structure triads: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-9bo_VEtEpWE.htmlsi=OC87uthN-yNzfzKH Bebop vocabulary: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-jC8tn6Wggxs.htmlsi=Z_Ajs3mQ7-D-oN5O Clave: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Ye7d5mPNfYY.htmlsi=PDQ1ljRweH0aetQX Jazz history: www.pbs.org/kenburns/jazz/

It helps when I reduce the playback speed to 15 years.

The real challenge after learning all this is how to turn this information into meaningful exercises so one can embody the stuff and be fluent with it in a creative and emotional manner. My personal problem sometimes is that I can't detach from the "intellectual" size of understanding stuff while sometimes it's more helpful just to "feel what it is" without trying to understand too mathematically.

Never been happier to be a drummer. Just kidding, I’m studying theory for that very reason! Kill me

Yo I can't express how helpful the fretboard above is. Literally played guitar for 20 years but always struggled to translate music theory from piano to a fretboard

I've been learning music for 20 years and knew everything until 9 minutes in

15 minutes to learn, 15 years to fully internalize on your instrument.

Wow. I never thought jazz could be even more complicated. This is like the orange juice ocncedntrate of jazz tutorials. Yeah, it's 15 minutes, but I'm going to have to review it over about 15 months. But, I have to confess that this is the best explanation of jazz and music theory I've seen. It's profoundly concise and super clear. my absorption rate is just really slow (because I'm dense). Thanks for this resource. I guarantee it will advance my musical knowledge and ability enormously. My instrument is guitar, BTW.

This video should be required viewing for any music student in every music school. I've been a musician for decades but have recently taken my mostly self-taught music knowledge a step up, through online lessons. Years of absorbing music theory have been ironed-out in this amazing 15 minute video. (with all the rewinding, much longer than 15 minutes for me). Thank you so much.

This is fantastic. Never seen someone explain so much so succinctly.

Jazz is so complicated, that’s why I love it

You: I can cover it in 15 minutes Me: (6 years later) I've almost got it. Still a great video.

10:20 "you can make a pentatonic scale out of any set fo 5 notes" Hmmmm I like this one: c,c#,d,d#,e

I did a bout of schooling but only some jazz. I knew a lot of this but even after years of additional RU-vid I hadn't heard of parent scales. It's already taken a bunch of pausing and parsing and it's going to take even more time to revisit and digest. Thanks for a great resource!

If i watch this video every day for 9 years I should know everything that you said.

Good stuff! I want my music school tuition back. 😁

This is awesome man. As a totally self taught musician, this is a great resource, as well as a reminder of how much knowledge I've acquired over the years. I don't think there was anything presented here that I wasn't already pretty familiar with. Just reinforces the idea that I need to continue taking that info and drilling it deeper and deeper into my subconscious

Yeah ok I’ll come back and rewatch the later half of this video in a year or so because now my head hurts

This is LEGIT. If you want to understand jazz music, just rewatch this over and over and over and practice over and over and over.

Wow, this is amazing. I can’t believe I didn’t know about this channel earlier! Thank you!

Very amazing video, Eric! Love your depth of knowledge in multiple areas. Cheers!

Thanks for this! … It was around 10:28 when I first hit some unfamiliar stuff … will definitely need to revisit a lot after that point, in front of my piano.

Thank you many times over. The quick overview reveals insight that slowly gained details fail to reveal, may even hide. Certainly true in this description. Excellent. Should be the intro for all beginning jazz students as well as a reminder from time to time along the way as big picture reminds end game goals.

4 years of my life compacted into 15 minutes. Great job!

After I finish watching this, I have two more 15 minute videos in the queue to get doctorates in Ancient Greek and then Roman History. My mother will be so proud!

even tho i've been sporadically adding most of this by being an obsessive music theory youtube watcher, you managed to surprise me with a few things like the four-note scales which i'd never noticed or thought to try. thanks for making this cheat sheet!

I thought I knew quite a lot before watching this video, but I still learned a thing or two from it but the main thing for me was that now everything is so much more structured in my head. This is a very very good summary, I'm happy that I clicked on this video! Thank you

Amazing video and thanks for sharing. I would argue most of the theory, while wonderfully explained here, is not particulary "jazz" but common theory to all western contemporary music.

thank you for this i have been waiting for an explainer vid like this for a long time

This cleared up some stuff from learning music theory and jazz randomly through watching vids. Good vid!

You may call me Dr Jones.

Brilliant, Mate. Like you, all the buzz of jazz school was playing with other great musiciains, but your description of the theory is almost all of the important theory. Cheers! Love it :)

Awesome stuff, Eric! Best to you from Miami

I'm so glad I stole the pdf rather than paying to practice. You saved me me the academic journey but spared the most important part.....playing with all those other high level musicians.❤❤❤❤ Alright ...now do 22 shruti and Sagittal Notation lol s

You just helped me fully realize what I’ve been working on for years. I always start on Eb play in Bb

Awesome video! 🙌🏾 learned a lot.

Even after all these years studying jazz in a university seems somehow odd. So many terms.

This is one of the greatest (if not the greatest) music theory summary video I've ever sign. Kudos to Eric! 🎉

What a great quick reference guide!

This is such a good summary thanks!! I’m a self taught jazz musician. Over 40 years I discovered all those patterns - but didn’t know how to articulate them. I considered going to Jazz school as an old dude - but thanks to your video I don’t have to. Brilliant summary.

👌I wish my Professor in geophysics was as so clear and effortless in explaining difficult material as you've done here! Job beautifully done, me thinks.

This video rocks. Thank you. Great visuals!

Thank you for this glorious lesson, Dr Beastman.

The part about the harmonic series and the Lydian F# helps a tiny little bit with the impenetrable thicket of George Russel's Lydian Chromatic concept of tonal organization.

It might be my individual experience but I was taught all this information on an undergraduate level degree. This covers jazz harmony 1 - 4 of the Berklee classes I think. The time and money would've been better spent practicing, performing and having a mentor. Although, this is a great video to have an overview of what one will see in jazz harmony classes.

i learned so much from this Video, thank you. It really helped getting my studying structured. I will watch it many times, until i get every last bit...

Gosh. All that space in between notes on a piano for the harmonic series sounds magical. Guitar (my instrument) feels so limited. This video is great. Thanks!

Bowman! What’s up dude? Didn’t know you had an educational RU-vid channel. Great stuff, man! Your editing chops are fantastic. Hope you’re doing well!

learning so much from you!

Just discovered your channel today, always wanted to study Jazz - guitar and e-bass - but two things got in my way, lack of time, and my fear of Jazz theory, which seems like a mountain to climb for me. Hopefully, your videos will unlock things for me enough so that I'll be able to begin to grasp the fundamentals enough so that I can start playing basic Jazz music in about a year. * subscribed *

Incredibly helpful lesson! Thanks! Subbed!

Never understand that parent scale or chord-scale system taught in Jazz… what’s the point of saying that the parent scale for CMAJOR chord is C Ionian scale? If I’m in the key of G than I think that I m gonna use F# instead of F over a CMAJOR. If I m in the key of F I have a Bb over a CMAJOR chord. If we gonna talk in terms of modes than it’s C LYDIAN in the key of G and C MIXOLYDIAN in the key of F. Does this system of chords- scale ( or parent scales ) only applies when we have NO TONAL CENTER ( aka no defined KEY we play in ) ? What’s the point in saying “ use c Ionian scale over a C MAJOR CHORD”. Doesn’t it depends on the key we are playing in? Can anyone help me understand that ? Thank u , great video btw❤

The hard thing in jazz is hearing a jazz track and following the changes by ear so that you can improvise something into it that sounds good. (I don't mean "smooth jazz" that is basically just R&B pop with the vocal replaced by an instrument where the only key change is toward the end of the tune, up by a full step. I mean actual jazz.) The second hard thing is that even if you are given a sheet with the chord progression, is knowing (instantly knowing) what to play.

Love it! Thank you

Wow, this is Fantastic!❤

Great video, Eric! I've been playing both classical and jazz piano for a LONG time, but had never really thought about WHY each mode was given the particular Greek name it was given. For example, why is the mode on the second degree of the major scale called Dorian and not, say, Phrygian or Mixolydian, etc.

Nice work!

No, this is you demonstrating the results of your music PhD in 15 minutes. I wouldn't even comprehend more than 1/5th of this video without music education and experience. 😅

Great video, but I'm confused about the Δ symbol. All the jazz people I've spoken to say that it denotes a major7 not a major chord. I've seen it used both ways (with Δ7 used to denote a major7 chord). I was wondering which is the "correct" way and also why so many people do it differently.

my brain quit working at the 5 minute mark I'm gonna have to read articles on everything mentioned up to this point and come back in a month or two

Hey Eric, you are a standalone at the top of music education on RU-vid. Could you please tell me what that software is you’re using to name the chords? Thanks so much for your knowledge!

Excellent!

Nice video man!

Thank you, I will be studying this video in the near future

Very helpful video :3

Excellent summary! Think the part about rythm should be longer! Thats the most important!

Love it!!!

Way beyond this beginner but I can tell it would be really helpful for someone.

Hey Eric, I didn’t know you did Jazz. I was give a request about the next sound design video. I really want to recreate a synth in “The Message” by Grandmaster Flash, specifically the one in the breakdown with staccato, vibrato & glides. If not though, MAYBE someday I’ll figure it out. Love your videos though man, I recently picked up Jazz a few months ago and it’s really done alot for me. I used to stick to just blues/R&B but I’m using way more semitones now which is awesome, it’s definitely expanded my ability. I’m still working on chords though, there’s this one specific progression I really want to figure out and add on. I’ll get it eventually

thanks man

This is great, Eric! A question for you - is what we're seeing on screen (grand staff, guitar chart, note names, etc.) while you're playing the product of some software? If so, it seems very cool - would you share what you're using? If it's not software and that's all done in post...whew, good work!

I need to watch this again. And again. And again ^1000

Instant Sub!

I understood most of this, with no university, except drop voicings for guitar sound terrible on their own to me and I dont play actual jazz so I dont have a need to know them really. The chord substitution thing was neat but a bit confusing. And I guess delving into Messiaen modes isnt standard in jazz nor is serialism. I'd also say Harmonic minor/Phrygian Dominant is a very popular scale although its just an altered note, an altered scale thats not THE altered scale, which is if you play the #7 of Harmonic minor as the root which in my head is Locrian but the root is a halfstep sharp. Lydian Dom (add the mixolydian note to it) is also quite popular. Thanks for this video though, pretty good stuff. I play metal and shred but lately listen to Allan Holdsworth every single day for the past 2 years, all night when I sleep, and often while i'm riding bikes.

yes sir! Remind me of the great book "lydian concept' by George Russell. Nice video, tank you.

What program are you using that shows the keyboard staff and guitar fretboard? Very cool video thanks.

At 9:00, you’ve entered sophomore year theory. At 12:30, that’s more specifically jazz theory, but I’m not sure if it’s solely doctoral level knowledge. At 15:30, you introduce rhythm, which is underemphasized in theory.

good video, I started at a university but dropped out after 2 quarters because of too many non music classes & went instead to G.I.T. for their 1 year program (back in 86-87) & it pretty much covered all that stuff plus a lot of other things that really helped me (along with getting to study with some great guitarists). So I'm really glad I made the decision I did instead of just sticking it out for a degree.

you fixed it

Hands down, best music theory video online. Amazed by how you showed concepts I took for granted to be derived from the harmonic series etc and went into the mechanics of why things work, answering questions I've had for years 😂 Hell this is as close to a theory of everything for music as I've ever seen, and in 15 MINUTES?! Can't thank you enough for making this. Truly. I'll be coming back to this video for years to come, as I'm sure will many others! 🎉

My father called jazz musicians "Masters of Music without a title". This is proof.

great video. you gotta do one about rhythm , unless this was overlooked in your experience.

I had been exposed to a lot of these ideas but seeing it all in one place made something click that was awesome. You should consider making a video elaborating on your last point of theory being imperfect yet useful. I feel like genres outside of jazz, what makes a song musically interesting is often about melody, production and rhythm more than chords and scales. What’s the music theory behind these genres, and how does it contrast with and work together with jazz theory?

What program are you using to display your chords on the keys, fretboard and with notation? It's great. Thanks for the knowledge!

I’m just 10 seconds into the video, no idea what the rest is about, but I’ll say one thing - I would 100% spend 10-15 years studying there to play and have a photo with John Williams.

I learned nothing from this and that makes me feel very smart😂good vid

Thanks for the video! What are you using to get the handy guitar visualiser next to the piano?

Need more on that hextonic scales built off triads brother that was gas 🤯

The guitar diagram system is sick

Any recommendations for a workbook that best covers and articulates this content as you so brilliantly have here? I've also got a jazz post-grad degree and now teaching, I wish I'd had this video when I was studying. Thank you

That 2:3 is also called “kpla-ka-tu-ka” and it’s a fun thing to sing with two people. The complimentary rhythm is “tu-ka-kpla-ka” (|: *one* *ee* and *uh* two *ee* :|) and you can hear these a lot in 6/8 time signatures (which were omitted entirely from this video, interestingly).

Not bad. I knew all but the definition of parent scales.

Great video but one of my pet peeves is the misunderstanding of the Maj7 chord symbol. The “Maj” describes the 7, NOT the triad. You said it yourself, if a chord symbol is just the note name, it’s assumed to be a major triad. So why specify that in the case of the major 7th? It makes way more sense that in the same way that as a chord, a 7th is minor by default, the way a a triad is major by default. This is clear to see in a CminMaj7 for example.

What's the software you use for the display? It's super helpful seeing both piano and guitar alongside the chords and scales

I feel like you should have included how the harmonic series is a dominant 7th arpeggio in its 3rd octave and lydian then chromatic in its 4th octave and microtonal above that

Thank u I luv u

I realized now after watching this video I know a lot more theory than I thought I just gotta apply it. I’m a percussionist but I want to play more keys and pick a wind instrument to start learning so I can really learn the language rhythmically and harmonically. (If anyone has any good instrument recommendations that don’t break the bank let me know I’m mostly interested in tenor sax or trumpet, I’ve played trombone in the past but I didn’t enjoy it😅)

So many other long-winded explanations about why there are 7 notes in an octave. You destroyed it in a few seconds. Awesome. If we’re lucky, they talk about the circle of fifths but harmonic series sums it up.

What software are you using with your keyboard? I specially like the guitar fretboard being shown. Please fill me in.

Thank you. I just used this to make my first album which is already getting multiple plays on all of the streaming services. Your video and udio music AI music creator have made my a little money. Thank you again